Secondly, for mental vision, or the inward eye, that is it that will take up our discourse, and that is it which the Apostle speaks of in his prayers for the Ephesians, 1that the eyes of their understanding may be opened, that they may know, &c. *Now the excellency of this mental sight is far above the ocular sight; for there are more excellent things to be seen by the eye of the mind, than by the eye of the body; we only see a piece of the creation by the eye of the body, but the mind reacheth every thing that is in it, yea the mind reacheth to him that made it; God is invisible, & yet this eye sees God;3 it is said of Moses, that he saw him that is invisible. 2. It is the sight of the mind that gives light and vigour to the sight of the eye, take away the inward light, and the light of the external sense is but as darkness and death. 3. It is the sight of the mind that looks into the worth, use, &c. propriety of any thing presented; the eye can see a thing, but not the worth of it; a beast looks on gold as well as a man, but the sight and knowledge of the worth of it is by the internal light of the mind, so the eye can see a thing but not the use of it; a child looks on a tool in the hand of a workman, but the sight and knowledge of the use of it, is only by a man of reason that hath internal light to judge of it: and so the eye can see a thing, but not the propriety of it; a beast looks on his pasture, but he likes it not because it is his, but because it is a pasture, and well furnished. Now we know that the worth, and use, and propriety of a thing, are the very cream of the things themselves, and this the eye of the mind conveys,4 and not the eyes of the body. It is said of Joseph, that he saw hi• brethren, and knew them, but they knew not him: this was the reason why Joseph was so exceedingly taken at the sight of his Brethren, that his bowels wrought with joy, and a kind of compassion towards them, but they were before him as common strangers, though they saw Joseph their brother a Prince, yet they were taken no more with the sight of him than of any other man, because they knew him not.
Secondly, for mental vision, or the inward eye, that is it that will take up our discourse, and that is it which the Apostle speaks of in his prayers for the Ephesians, 1that the eyes of their understanding may be opened, that they may know, &c. *Now the excellency of this mental sight is far above the ocular sight; for there are more excellent things to be seen by the eye of the mind, than by the eye of the body; we only see a peece of the creation by the eye of the body, but the mind reacheth every thing that is in it, yea the mind reacheth to him that made it; God is invisible, & yet this eye sees God;3 it is said of Moses, that he saw him that is invisible. 2. It is the sight of the mind that gives light and vigour to the sight of the eye, take away the inward light, and the light of the external sense is but as darkness and death. 3. It is the sight of the mind that looks into the worth, use, &c. propriety of any thing presented; the eye can see a thing, but not the worth of it; a beast looks on gold as well as a man, but the sight and knowledge of the worth of it is by the internal light of the mind, so the eye can see a thing but not the use of it; a child looks on a tool in the hand of a workman, but the sight and knowledge of the use of it, is only by a man of reason that hath internal light to judge of it: and so the eye can see a thing, but not the propriety of it; a beast looks on his pasture, but he likes it not because it is his, but because it is a pasture, and well furnished. Now we know that the worth, and use, and propriety of a thing, are the very cream of the things themselves, and this the eye of the mind conveys,4 and not the eyes of the body. It is said of Joseph, that he saw hi• brethren, and knew them, but they knew not him: this was the reason why Joseph was so exceedingly taken at the sight of his Brethren, that his bowels wrought with joy, and a kind of compassion towards them, but they were before him as common strangers, though they saw Joseph their brother a Prince, yet they were taken no more with the sight of him than of any other man, because they knew him not.
- 1Ephes 1.18.
- *Sim••ds sight and saith.
- 3Heb. 11.27.
- 4Gen. 42.7, 8.
